“Lucy, do you know the telephone number in this house?”
“Yes, I got it from the telephone company man when he hooked up the phone here for us. It’s—” Vicki wrote it down.
“Lucy, I’m going to come back here secretly and get you. I’ll be waiting in a car at the first sharp curve at the top of the road. It will be noon. All you’ll have to do is slip away and run down the road. Don’t take any luggage with you, not even a coat or purse, nothing to arouse Mrs. Heath’s suspicion. Do you understand?”
“Yes, but—You’re really going to do all this for me? You honestly think I’m not safe here?”
“Lucy, pay attention! I’ll be waiting at noon.”
“What day?” The girl sounded frightened.
“I don’t know the day yet, but on that morning I’ll send you a signal by telephone. I know you can’t receive a phone call, but here’s a way. The telephone will ring, Mrs. Heath will answer it, and I’ll say—”
Vicki stopped. No, she would be driving from San Francisco to Pine Top that morning. Someone else would have to make that call. The minister? Yes, she could rely on Mr. Hall to do it. Vicki resumed:
“Mr. Hall, not I, will telephone on that morning. Early, before his church service, if it’s a Sunday. Mrs. Heath will answer and he’ll say it’s the telephone company making a test call, and hang up. Then he’ll call again, right away. You’ll hear the phone ring a second time, but when Mrs. Heath answers, he’ll hang up without speaking. As if it were an error.”
“And Mrs. Heath will be annoyed enough to mention the two phone calls to me. I’ll be listening every morning for the phone to ring. To ring twice.”